The preliminary unofficial results of the referendum held in Kazakhstan on March 15 show that the vast majority of voters supported the adoption of the new constitution.
Medianews.az reports that the constitution provides for the head of state - the president to be elected by popular vote for a term of 7 years. It is prohibited to hold the office of head of state for more than one term.
A person who has reached the age of 40, has lived in the country for the last 15 years, has a higher education, and has at least five years of work experience in state institutions is eligible to run for president.
The president cannot be a member of a political party.
It is prohibited for close relatives of the head of state to hold any government position.
The president appoints the vice president and prime minister with the approval of the parliament (Congress).
In appointing members of the government (except the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, and internal affairs), the presentation of the prime minister is taken as the basis.
When the president dies or leaves office early, the powers of the head of state are transferred to the vice president, and if this is not possible, to the speaker of parliament, and if this is also not possible, to the prime minister.
The Congress consists of 145 members elected for a term of 5 years by proportional system (party lists).
The current president of Kazakhstan is Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, born in 1953, is a diplomat and doctor of political sciences.
Since 1975, he worked at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then at the country's embassy in Singapore, followed by posts of second secretary, first secretary, and counsellor at the embassy in China.
Since 1992, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was deputy minister of foreign affairs of Kazakhstan, from 1993 the first deputy minister. In 1994, he was appointed minister of foreign affairs, and in 1999, he first served as deputy prime minister, then as prime minister.
Since 2002, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev served as state secretary and minister of foreign affairs, and from 2003 as minister of foreign affairs, and since 2007 as chairman of the Senate, the upper house of the Kazakhstan parliament.
Since 2011, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was deputy secretary-general of the UN, and in 2013 he was re-elected as chairman of the Senate.
On March 20, 2019, Kazakhstan's first president Nursultan Nazarbayev resigned, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took the presidential oath and assumed the office, and on June 9 of the same year, he won the early presidential election.
On November 20, 2022, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev obtained another presidential mandate in an early election.
Toğrul Ali,
Medianews.az